With the passing of Steven Jobs last week, much has been said about the impact he made on the world. Think about it: This guy was fired from Apple, hired back, stole the portable music business away from Sony, changed the entire digital music industry, stole the cell phone market away from Nokia and Motorola and changed the entire mobile industry. Just about everything he touched turned to gold. He made his impact by living his life and dreaming big.

Do you think that there is that type of visionary working in the mattress world today? Is it crazy to expect that this kind of person would bother with our industry? Consider the innovation happening in the mattress space today. Do you think others would consider us cutting-edge? If people from outside of our industry were to give us a grade on our process and the top five things that we have invented over the last 10 years, would they be impressed? Do the leaders of the companies in this industry have the vision necessary to advance us beyond where we are today?

I sure wish that Steve Jobs was alive today and available for a long lunch. I wonder what he would have to say about the job we are doing. I wonder if he would have an idea to help us transcend where we are and make that quantum leap into what we could and should be. I believe making that leap is without a doubt possible, so where is all of the big thinking in the mattress industry? Where are our visionaries?

All I know is that good sleep is critical to a good quality of life. Sleeping well is just as important as what you eat and how you exercise. Yet, as an industry, we have not really capitalized on the idea that the equipment you use to get that good sleep is really a big part of the equation. When you really think about it, there are all kinds of opportunities out there for someone if they were to approach it differently. The question is, are we capable?

So here’s to you Steve Jobs, for the big thinking, exposing yourself to the critics that said you could never do it, (whatever “it” was at the time), for pushing forward and having the conviction needed, and for the heart that you brought to everything you did.

What am I missing, what are you thinking?

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone. They do not represent the thinking of the company I work for, or anyone else with whom I am affiliated. Except my wife of course, who is good at telling me what not to say.

A Brief Note About Steve Jobs

I thought it might be important to mention that this strip was written before Steve Jobs passed away. The fact that his efforts to deliver meaningful integrated technology created such deeply impactful cultural presence as to be seen in a comic strip about mattresses (of all things), says enough, I hope, about how I regarded him. For what it’s worth, thank you Steve for being a man of passion and vision – qualities that often lead to wisdom not fully appreciated until the source is gone. Thank you again Steve, thank you so very much. – Luis Pagan, TVM comic strip author